James Shield on Sheffield United: The end-of-season award which should already be a given

Second in the Championship table and three points clear of their nearest challengers Middlesbrough, Sheffield United enter today’s match at Norwich City in a pretty peachy position. Okay, so they’re not as clear of Michael Carrick’s side as they might like, even though the former England midfielder’s squad have played a game more. But with an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City also looming on the horizon - and given that we’re approaching the end of the campaign - I’m going to make an early call on one of the prizes which traditionally get handed out at this time of year: No matter what happens from here on in, whether United go straight up or not, Paul Heckingbottom has surely outperformed every other manager in the region. Probably even the entire English Football League although, admittedly, I’m not au fait with the international politics or challenges of every single club across the competition.

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Heckingbottom, let’s be frank, faces some bloody strong competition within South Yorkshire. Darren Moore has performed superbly well at Sheffield Wednesday, making fools of those who were calling for him to be sacked during the build-up to Christmas. Michael Duff is working wonders at Barnsley too, where his team goes about its business with real verve and vibrancy.

The thing is, and I’m willing to stand corrected, I’m not surprised to see Wednesday excelling. They’re clearly paying pretty tasty wages and for once, the folk in the boot room are seemingly being allowed to go about their work without too much interference from upstairs. That’s taking nothing away from Moore whatsoever, although I’ve got no doubt some people will deliberately interpret that as a slight. It’s not by the way. I can never understand why any mention of money, particularly given the crowing which inevitably happens whenever a huge transfer fee is paid, is then automatically taken as an insult when discussing what really attracts the best players.

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A short drive across the city, Heckingbottom has enjoyed none of the assistance offered to Moore. Okay, so United’s hierarchy will dispute that - claiming the retention of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge during the January window was the greatest act of solidarity since Lech Walesa and his pals downed tools in Gdansk. It was welcome, yes. But then again, no club with any ambition would have considered selling them anyway. Not then. And the issues which even made their departures a possibility stem from decisions made behind the scenes. Not in the technical area, where most of what Heckingbottom and his colleagues have achieved so far this term is in spite of, not because of, United’s off-the-pitch affairs. When you factor in issues to do with their training complex, remember that no one arrived to refresh tired bodies and minds at a time when all of their fiercest rivals for the runners-up berth were strengthening and the uncertainty caused by the lack of contract negotiations with existing squad members, it’s a bona fide bloody miracle that United are where they are right now.

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Many of the issues which irritated the hell out of his two most recent predecessors, Chris Wilder and Slavisa Jokanovic, still remain at Bramall Lane. Intelligently, Heckingbottom has clearly learnt from how they were eventually consumed by these. It would be wrong to describe his approach as conciliatory, because he leaves the media in no doubt whatsoever when he’s got the hump with his employers. But, choosing his language carefully, Heckingbottom makes his annoyance known with a degree of diplomacy and tact. That, as far as I’m concerned anyway, is one of the main reasons why those directly under his command have been able to perform to such a high standard since competition resumed in August.

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Which brings me, quite neatly, to another important point. United have been on an upward trajectory ever since Heckingbottom, Stuart McCall and Jack Lester were appointed to their present jobs nearly a year-and-a-half ago. Sixteenth then, United went on to qualify for the play-offs before eventually running out of road at Nottingham Forest. This time around, they are hoping to go two better. And they are in the box seat.

They aren’t the only ones responsible for United’s healthy position in the rankings. Head of recruitment Paul Mitchell rarely gets the credit he deserves, The same went for his close associate Jared Dublin, before he left for Reading. Don’t be surprised to see the American, who has yet to be replaced, go on to become a very big noise in the sport over the next decade. The performance department, led by Tom Little, has also excelled. Particularly helping to patch up players when United were nearly overwhelmed by injuries before the World Cup break. Many of those were caused by things beyond the staff’s control.

When you add all of these things up, and then consider them against the backdrop of a proposed takeover so protracted it puts Lost to shame, I’m going to be sicker than the proverbial parrot if Heckingbottom’s name doesn’t feature prominently on this summer’s prize giving lists. He’s not perfect or infallible. But he is, now matter how you look at things, out-performing most of his contemporaries in extremely challenging circumstances.

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